Ticking News

Winners of the 14th annual Ig Nobels in 2004 included the inventor of karaoke, the engineers who devised the “combover ” hairdo, a girl who investigated the “five-second rule ” commonly applied to dropped food, and researchers who discovered a connection between country music and suicide. [1]

A live frog is magnetically levitated, an experiment that earned Andre Geim from the University of Nijmegen and Sir Michael Berry from University of Bristol the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics. [2]

The research won the 2010 Ig Nobel Prize for transportation planning. [3]

The discovery won Japanese scientists an Ig Nobel. [4]

The Ig Nobel Prizes, which are handed out annually at Harvard University by actual Nobel Prize laureates, were founded in 1990 in order to recognize scientific research that “first makes you laugh, then makes you think.” [1]

For the Japanese researchers who came up with the horseradish-based alarm system, it was a lifesaving piece of work, but on Thursday night they entered the history books with the award of the Ig Nobel prize for chemistry. [4]

Quantum fluctuations in science, space and society, from quarks to Hubble and Mars. [3]

The Japanese scientists and engineers who came up with the 50,000-yen (?400) wasabi alarm tried hundreds of odours, including rotten eggs, before settling on the Japanese condiment ‘ a favourite of sushi lovers. [4]

Ceremony details: improbable.com Winners: improbable.com Other participants: improbable.com How & Why to Write a Bacterial Opera: blogs.discovermagazine.com TIMECODES FOR PARTICULAR IG HIGHLIGHTS (NB: YouTube does not currently support timecodes past 60 minutes. [5]

In 1995, Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, the chief scientific adviser to the British government, requested that the organizers no longer award Ig Nobel prizes to British scientists, claiming that the awards risked bringing genuine experiments into ridicule. [1]

Several scientists flew in from Japan to pick up their “Transportation Planning Prize” for figuring out how to use slime mold to design mass-transit routes. [3]

The 2010 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony took place on Thursday, September 30th at Sanders Theater, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [5]

Organized by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), they are presented by a group that includes Nobel Laureates at a ceremony at Harvard University ’s Sanders Theater, and they are followed by a set of public lectures by the winners at MIT. [1]

The awards are sometimes veiled criticism (or gentle satire), as in the two awards given for homeopathy research, prizes in “science education” to the Kansas and Colorado state boards of education for their stance regarding the teaching of evolution, and the prize awarded to Social Text after the Sokal Affair. [2]

The awards, a spoof on the Nobel prizes, which will be announced next week, honour achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”. [4]

Sources:
[1] Ig Nobel Prize: Information from Answers.com
[2] Ig Nobel Prize - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3] Cosmic Log - Slime mold wins geeky prize … again!
[4] Scientists behind the wasabi fire alarm win Ig Nobel prize …
[5] Ig Nobel

Now the critically-acclaimed and serious leading man of the films Brick and The Lookout, Joseph Gordon-Levitt spent his teen years co-starring in six-seasons of the wacky TV sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun (1996-2001). [1]

Despite his young age, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has already distinguished himself as an actor with a wide range of performances in both television and film. [2]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been pulling on heartstrings ever since he sprang upon the scene as a child actor looking for approval from Danny Glover in the baseball movie Angels in the Outfield and as a kid looking up to Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It.. [3]

He is known for his roles in the 2009 indie (500) Days of Summer for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination, for 2010 sci-fi film Inception and for his lead role in 2011 film 50/50. [4]

Winning his first major role at age seven in the TV movie Stranger on My Land (1988), Gordon-Levitt appeared in a number of TV movies and series during the late ’80s and early ’90s, including a recurring role on the hit sitcom Roseanne from 1993 to 1995. [1]

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films. [4]

After making his feature film debut as the young version of Craig Sheffer in A River Runs Through It (1992), the young actor garnered further notice as the boy whose prayers are answered in the sleeper Angels in the Outfield (1994) and as Demi Moore ’s son in The Juror (1996). [...] Gordon-Levitt’s filmography as a child actor dates to the late 1980s and includes roles in the feature films A River Runs Through It (1992, directed by Robert Redford) and Angels in the Outfield (1994). [1]

We talked with the young actor about making this indie romance that’s alternative programming for those not into Harry Potter this weekend, and whistling ‘ and dancing ‘ while you work as the film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. [3]

Making the most of the late-’90s teen movie resurgence during the series’ hiatuses, Gordon-Levitt appeared in the teen slasher sequel Halloween: H20 (1998) and starred as one of the romantic schemers in the popular Shakespeare-via-high school comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). [1]

Fandango: Your last few films have been very serious. [3]

In 2010, he directed another short film, Morgan and Destiny’s Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo. [4]

I grew up like the rest of us watching Michael Jackson videos — ahh that’s the coolest thing, to be dancing in front of a bunch of people! [...] This photo was taken on July 19, 2009. [3]

Steven Spielberg has cast him to play Robert Todd Lincoln in the 2012 film Lincoln. [4]

Sources:
[1] Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Biography from Answers.com
[2] Joseph Gordon-Levitt - IMDb
[3] Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
[4] Wikipedia: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Erin Burnett (born July 2, 1976) is a business news anchor, reporter and interviewer for CNBC television. [1]

Erin Burnett (born as Erin Isabelle Burnett on March 17, 1976) is a television news anchor on CNBC’s Street Signs and co-anchors CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. [2]

Erin Burnett born as Erin Isabelle Burnett on March 17th, 1976 in Mardela Springs, Maryland, USA is a famous television personality on CNBC. [3]

Erin Burnett is a CNBC business news anchor, interviewer and reporter. [4]

She is the co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street program, weekdays from 9-11am EST. [5]

Impressed by how Erin knew her craft, Wright recommended her to CNBC head Mark Hoffman, who was then looking for new talent to attract younger viewers. [4]

She soon left Goldman Sachs and joined CNN as a writer and a booker for CNN’s Moneyline program working along with Stuart Varney, Willow Bay and Lou Dobbs. [...] Looking for more challenges ahead, Erin Burnett moved from CNN to join Citigroup as Vice President of Citigroup/CitiMedia, where she streamlined their online financial network. [3]

Erin Isabelle Burnett (born 1976) is an American business news anchor, reporter and interviewer for CNN. [6]

The former CNBC anchor was lured to CNN with the promise of being able to start her own daily program from scratch. [1]

Erin Burnett is a business news anchor, reporter and interviewer for CNBC television. [5]

She also appears regularly on NBC’s Today and Nightly News with Brian Williams and is a contributor on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. [2]

She studied at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and graduated with MA degree in 1998. [...] Burnett then moved to Bloomberg Television in 2003 anchoring their programs “Bloomberg on the Markets” that throws light on the stock market and “In Focus” that covers top business stories for their program. [3]

She was the co-anchor of CNBC ’s Squawk on the Street program and the host of CNBC ’s Street Signs program. [6]

Sources:
[1] Erin Burnett Maxim Photos - Zimbio
[2] Erin Burnett - Conservapedia
[3] Erin Burnett | Unofficial Fansite of the Famous Business News …
[4] Erin Burnett
[5] Erin Burnett | Chickipedia
[6] Erin Burnett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) — American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki — whose fluency in English and technology made him one of the top terrorist recruiters in the world — was killed Friday in an airstrike in Yemen, officials said. [1]

Anwar al-Awlaki is believed to have inspired some of the recent plots against the U.S., including the failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit, Mich. [2]

Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to al-Qaeda, was killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen on Friday, U.S. officials said, removing a ‘global terrorist’ high on a U.S. wanted list. [3]

In this image taken from video and released by SITE Intelligence Group, Anwar al-Awlaki speaks in a video message posted on radical websites in November, 2010. [4]

AP - Yemen’s Defense Ministry said Friday that the U.S.-born al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed. [5]

Anwar al-Awlaki was a radical American-born Muslim cleric who became a leading figure in Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen. [...] A product both of Yemen’s deeply conservative religious culture and freewheeling American ways, Mr. Awlaki hesitated to shake hands with women but patronized prostitutes. [6]

Earlier in his career, Awlaki preached at mosques in the United States attended by some of the hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a U.S. raid on his hideout in Pakistan in May. [3]

The Yemeni government announced that al-Awlaki was “targeted and killed” around 9:55 a.m outside the town of Khashef in mountainous Jawf province, 87 miles east of the capital Sanaa. [2]

Awlaki’s death could be a boon for U.S. President Barack Obama and for his Yemeni counterpart, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is clinging to power despite months of popular protests, factional violence and international pressure. [3]

In a significant new blow to al-Qaida, U.S. airstrikes in the mountains of Yemen on Friday killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American militant cleric who became a prominent figure in the terror network’s most dangerous branch, using his fluent English and Internet savvy to draw recruits for attacks in the United States. [2]

Yemeni security and tribal officials said an airstrike thought to have been carried out by U.S. aircraft on Friday targeted a convoy of cars traveling in the eastern province of Marib but could not say whether al-Awlaki was in the convoy. [5]

Awlaki’s killing deprives the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of an eloquent propagandist in English and Arabic who was implicated in attacks on the United States. [3]

A “successful joint intelligence-sharing operation” between Yemen and the United States led to the attack that killed al-Awlaki, a Yemeni government official said Friday. [1]

In April 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama approved Al-Awlaki’s targeted killing, a first for an American citizen, and a move unsuccessfully challenged by al-Awlaki’s father and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). [7]

Sources:
[1] U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki killed: Yemeni …
[2] Yemen: Anwar Al-Awlaki, U.S.-Born Cleric Linked To Al-Qaida …
[3] American-born al-Qaeda cleric Awlaki killed: Yemeni defense …
[4] Yemen Says Al-Awlaki, Al-Qaida’s English-Speaking Voice, Is …
[5] Radical US-born cleric al-Awlaki reportedly killed - YEMEN …
[6] Anwar al-Awlaki - The New York Times
[7] Anwar al-Awlaki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We may well call it “the tragedy of the commons,” using the word “tragedy” as the philosopher Whitehead used it (7): “The essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. [1]

We may well call it “the tragedy of the commons,” using the word “tragedy” as the philosopher Whitehead used it: “The essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. [2]

We may well call it “the tragedy of the commons”, using the word “tragedy” as the philosopher Whitehead used it (7): “The essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. [3]

The concept of the Tragedy of the Commons is extremely important for understanding the degradation of our environment. [4]

The tragedy of the commons is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen. [5]

The tragedy of the commons also arose in the savings and loan (S&L) crisis. [6]

De Young, R. (1999) Tragedy of the Commons. [7]

“The Tragedy of the Commons,” Garrett Hardin, Science, 162(1968):1243-1248. [2]

Ecologist Garrett Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons” (Hardin, 1968) has proven a useful concept for understanding how we have come to be at the brink of numerous environmental catastrophes. [7]

Inevitability justifies the epithet ‘tragedy,’ which I introduced in 1968. [6]

On 13 December 1968, the late Garrett Hardin published an essay in Science that was destined to become one of the journal’s most requested articles in the subsequent 35 years. [8]

If the great powers continue to look for solutions in the area of science and technology only, the result will be to worsen the situation.” [1]

The essay also served as popular metaphor for a variety of situations at the intersection of science and society, in realms ranging from biomedicine to university administration to the Internet. [9]

I would like to focus your attention not on the subject of the article (national security in a nuclear world) but on the kind of conclusion they reached, namely that there is no technical solution to the problem. [1]

To respond well to an energy and resource descent, and climate disruption, a great many small experiments must be conducted, and quickly. [7]

Sources:
[1] The Tragedy of the Commons
[2] Tragedy of the Commons, The
[3] The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin - The Garrett …
[4] Tragedy of the Commons
[5] Tragedy of the commons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[6] Tragedy of the Commons: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics …
[7] Tragedy of the Commons defined | Raymond De Young
[8] Science Magazine: Tragedy of the Commons? — Web Resources
[9] Tragedy of the Commons (historical)